Kelly Breen plans to increase his chances for the Haskell Invitational by entering his top runners
Kelly Breen is going to be a busy trainer this July as he targets two important races of the season, deploying his horses in both, the $150,000 Long Branch Stakes and the $1 million Grade 1 Haskell Invitational, both at Monmouth Park.
Famous trainer, Kelly Breen, has one eye on the Long Branch Stakes and the other on premier event meet Grade 1 Haskell Invitational on 31 July.
For the Haskell Invitational, Breen would be entering Pants on Fire, the Grade 3 Pegasus Stakes winner last time out, and the Belmont Stakes winner, Ruler on Ice, two strong prospects for Kelly Breen.
On the other hand, Kelly Breen has two more horses in his wings to unleash in the Long Branch Stakes. The 1 1/6 mile event will have Kelly Breen trained Nacho Saint and Galaxy Kat.
Traditionally Long Branch is a prep race for the main event, the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational, and the winner of the Long Branch Stakes gets an extended invitation to run in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational.
The Kelly Breen duo in the Long Branch Stakes will be looking to top a field of 10 three-year-olds’ and enhancing Breen’s chances three times to win the $1million purse of the Haskell Invitational.
The composition of the Long Branch Stakes, besides the Kelly Breen Duo, includes four horses, also probable to run in the $100,000 Barbaro Stakes at Del Mar, including All of the Above, Jack London and Will’s Wildcat.
Kelly Breen’s Nacho Saint will be making his sixth stakes’ appearance and has only won one race at Aqueduct back in January, his maiden.
This could be the three-year-old chestnut colt’s breakthrough race. Prior to this, Nacho Saint has been producing acceptable performances every now and then.
Recently finishing second at the Saratoga racing course in the Grade 2 Sanford Stakes behind Maybesomaybenot, who defeated the colt by 1 ½ lengths, Nacho Saint is in good form.
At Aqueduct, back in March, Nacho Saint ran a good race but was held back firmly by four others ahead of him to make him finish fourth at the end of the race, finishing 4 ¾ lengths behind the leader, also the Belmont Stakes’ runner-up, Stay Thirsty.
The three-year-old gelding Galaxy Kat wearing his blinkers entered the First level Parx Racing and went on to win it.
The same remedy was used for Ruler on Ice and he went on to win the Belmont Stakes.
Kelly Breen will probably use Galaxy Kat as the pace setter for Nacho Saint, holding Nacho Saint off the pace in the beginning of the race and letting him lose afterwards.
Overall, this is a good combination for Kelly Breen as he contemplates to put three on the field for the all important Haskell meet.
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